Abstract Summary/Description
Parenting centers on a child's well-being but can bring significant stress, particularly for parents of children with developmental disabilities. Daily challenges, uncertainties, lack of support, and societal stigma amplify this stress, impacting parents' mental health, family dynamics, and perceptions of their child's development (Baker et al., 2002). Stress influences parents' perception of developmental domains like language skills, shaping intervention outcomes (Smith et al., 2011). Adaptive behavior—the ability to navigate daily demands through communication, social, and practical skills—plays a critical role in this dynamic. It reflects a child's functional abilities and influences parental stress and language development perceptions. Parents of children with Down syndrome often experience the "Down syndrome advantage," reporting lower stress and more positive perceptions of their child's communication abilities compared to parents of children with other developmental disabilities (Smith et al., 2014). Building on Smith et al.'s (2014) findings, this study explores how adaptive behavior moderates the relationship between parental stress and perceptions of language development. Specifically, it investigates how adaptive behavior explains differences in stress and perceptions, whether it moderates the relationship between stress and perceptions, and how the "Down syndrome advantage" manifests in these relationships. Given the critical role adaptive behavior plays in the parent-child dynamic, this study explores how changes in parental stress and perceptions of intervention success are influenced by adaptive behavior. Findings may inform early intervention strategies and parent support programs, emphasizing adaptive behavior's role in supporting children's language development and improving parental well-being.
